


give the pride to the lioness

by tigriswolf



Series: comment_fic drabbles [216]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Women, Bucky Barnes is so tragic, Gen, Maria Hill does not get paid enough for this shit, Mild Language, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2014-09-29
Packaged: 2018-02-19 04:57:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2375441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the whole, Maria thought she had everything in hand until a ghost followed Steve Rogers home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	give the pride to the lioness

**Author's Note:**

> Title: give the pride to the lioness  
> Disclaimer: not my characters  
> Warnings: post-Cap2 and spoilers for everything up till that point; just a spot of cussing  
> Pairings: all the canon background pairings, implied Nastasha/Clint & Steve/Bucky  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 830  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: The Avengers, Maria Hill, She doesn't know how Coulson dealt with these people. Herding cats doesn't even begin to cover it.

_Drinks at the usual place, please, for the love of god_ , she texts Pepper. _Someone is GOING TO DIE if I spend tonight sober_. 

Pepper replies promptly , _I'll have the usual waiting_. 

Maria sighs into her hands. Fucking superpowered assholes, and fucking billionaires. And fucking Coulson for running off to be director and leaving her this - this _debacle_ masquerading as Earth's mightiest heroes. 

.

She, like everyone else born after WWII, grew up on stories of Captain America and his Howling Commandoes. It wasn’t till she was an adult working in covert ops that she began reading between the lines and realized the Captain America and his badass team couldn’t have possibly been as squeaky clean as the books made them out to be. 

She spent most of her adolescence crushing on Bucky Barnes for his movie star looks and utter devotion to the determined shrimp that became Captain America. She grew out of it, of course, and all of the Commandoes and their Captain was just another part of history. 

Steve Rogers, though. Wow. History doesn’t seem to remember how angry he is, and how adorable, and the way he can hold a straight face through _anything_. 

.

Maria didn’t meet Natasha Romanoff until about a month after Barton brought her in. Coulson put in a good word, which was the only reason Romanoff didn’t disappear to never be seen again. 

Based on the rumors and supposition, Romanoff was supposed to be the most dangerous woman in the world, even though she looked maybe 20 in the right light. That first meeting, though, convinced Maria that the rumors didn’t give her enough credit. 

And Barton – Barton is a goddamned tragedy, but damned if he doesn’t make impossible shots every time. (That’s why, after the Battle of Manhattan, she tells him to go to ground and wait to be called in. He saved her life. He saved hundreds of lives because he could’ve made that attack on the Helicarrier go so much smoother. And if no one else wanted to see it, she knew it, and Fury knew it, and she wasn’t going to let him be scapegoated for any of that clusterfuck at all.)

.

Stark. Fucking Stark. The only reason she puts up with him because Pepper says he’s a good man at heart, even though he does his best to never ever show it. 

But – he did fly a nuke through a portal, and he did take in every single SHIELD agent that needed sanctuary. So.

He’s got a goddamned heart. He’s still an insufferable jackass. 

.

Bruce Banner, though. Dr. Banner she likes. He’s a soothing presence. He’s possibly the most dangerous person on the whole planet, but he tries so hard to not be threatening. And he’s got the best deadpan she’s ever seen. 

.

Hooboy, Thor. Thor is… there are no words for Thor. At least Dr. Foster and Lewis have taught him to respect electronics because Stark’s rants about lightning got real old, real fast. 

(And there’s no way he’s as stupid as he acts, but it is goddamned hilarious.)

.

On the whole, Maria thought she had everything in hand until a ghost followed Steve Rogers home. Yeah, Steve had been busy blowing up shit right and left and center, with _another_ adrenaline junky following him, and Romanoff was riding herd on Barton (who had taken Maria’s order to hide far too well, and didn’t even call it in when he got shot in the goddamned gut, fucking Barton, _you goddamned tragedy_ ), and Fury was off the grid, and Coulson was trying to build SHIELD back up despite _his own hero_ burning it down, but she had it all under control, she really did. 

_But Bucky fucking Barnes_. What the ever loving fuck. 

.

“It’ll be alright, Maria, I promise,” Pepper says soothingly, gesturing for refills. “You and I, we’ll make sure of it.” 

“He just… he looks so sad,” Maria says into the absolutely gorgeous tablecloth. “And so young! Shit, Pepper, they’re both so fucking _young_ , _what_ is _wrong_ with this world.” 

She’s barely older than them, if you don’t count the years Steve spent frozen and – and _whatever the fuck_ Hydra did to Barnes, but it’s just… 

“Steve’s always lookin’ at him,” she says, “and he’s always lookin’ back, and it’s just so sad, Pepper, it’s so fucking sad, fuck, Hydra died too easy, I swear to God. And Pierce!” She slams the drink back and holds the glass out. “Pierce, that absolute bastard, he, he –” 

She really thought she knew the worst of humanity, but Bucky Barnes’ _entire existence_ has proved her wrong. 

“I know,” Pepper says. “But they’ve got us looking out for them now, don’t they?” She nudges the refill over. 

“As soon it’s all situated,” Maria says, looking around and leaning in, “Romanoff’s finding me a few of the Hydra bastards that are left. Wanna come?” 

A lick of flame flares up in Pepper’s eyes and she smiles. “Darling, I’d love to.”


End file.
